


Arsenal of Flesh and Blood

by Mysticmcknight



Series: Doctor Fest [1]
Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-02
Updated: 2017-05-02
Packaged: 2018-10-27 00:06:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10797594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mysticmcknight/pseuds/Mysticmcknight
Summary: The Borg Queen is up to no good once more according to the Borg resistance and Voyager must discover what she’s up to and put a stop to it…or will they want to or will they have a choice in the matter?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story and all in the series are individual creations, all written for the Doctor Fest held many years ago, where the pairings were randomly chosen by the moderator and you wrote a story with that character with your chosen doctor. This is one of the results.

The music was soft in the background as the starlight flickered across the room adding to the ambience of the place. Two bodies moved against each other in heated passion, whirling the blankets on the bed aside, tossing them to the ground, letting light shimmer off sensuous bronze skin and creamy ivory as they entangled around each other in a primal dance as old as the stars themselves, however this night, the dance was interrupted…

“Okay, Kat, what’s wrong now?” Chakotay asked as he leaned up from the body of his lover looking seriously distressed. “We’re supposed to be making love, not on combat maneuvers,” he said, his irritation showing. 

“I’m sorry, Cha, I…I just can’t help it. We both knew this would be an issue from time to time, since we both like to dominate in bed,” she said, half a smile on her face, trying to keep the mood from totally being lost to them this night. 

Chakotay leaned back into the bed, resting on his side, and then allowed himself to fall to his back, covering his eyes with his right arm, this was the fourth time this week alone, and it wasn’t getting any better. He loved Kathryn with all his heart, and knew she loved him, but for some reason, where they were compatible in almost every way, it stopped at the bedroom door. Usually an Alpha male and female could get along, for each knew their roles, but that didn’t seem to apply to him and Kathryn. It seemed when he wanted to ‘take’ her, she wanted to ‘take’ him and on the rare occasion when he felt like being taken, she did too…it was getting down right irritating to the point they were discussing becoming platonic lovers…except they were human and truly desired each other. 

They had tried to alternate, but that would mean one would have to stay in control of themselves, and besides from not being very romantic, it was almost damn impossible, so they would clash. Every once and a while the clash was actually a good thing, but on the whole, like tonight, it set everything off kilter. Tonight it was Kathryn, who was to play the more submissive role, but her nature wouldn’t allow it, and as much as Chakotay wanted to be upset about it, he hadn’t been much better when it was his turn. No, he had to face it; they were great together, so long as sex wasn’t involved. *sigh* 

“I’m really sorry, Cha,” Kathryn whispered as she curled her sleek slim body up next to the man that not only was her right hand man, in more ways than one, but her best friend and the man she loved. She would have never believed almost seven years ago, when she was sent out to capture this man that he would end up capturing her and her heart. She laid her head on his chest, sensing his frustration, and that the ‘mood’ was long past…another night of failure. 

“It’s not your fault, Kat,” Cha said softly, for he didn’t feel it was, but he did feel it was the fates that played this joke on him and Kathryn, “But by the Spirits themselves, you would think they would at least let us get in one night!” 

She chuckled, for she felt that way too and knew what Chakotay was referring to, for neither of them had gotten to the end of their sessions for the past four attempts, and their bodies demanded release. She snuck her hand down his strong smooth chest, feeling the taut muscles and the strong abs as her hand reached down between her love’s legs and found that not ‘all’ the mood had gone, and gently but firmly grasped hold and started to rub up and down, using some of his pre cum as lubrication. 

A groan escaped Chakotay’s lips, “Kat…” he cried out softly, his body coming alive under her touch. 

“Shh,” he said, “Let’s just be goal oriented for a moment, shall we?” she said in her husky tone, knowing that they both needed this more than the love making. She could feel that he agreed with her as his strong hand found its way between her legs, caressing her into wetness and both rocked into the others hand, only focusing on the pleasure and the promise of release that both bodies were aching for. 

It didn’t take long before Chakotay and Kathryn roared and hissed in pure delight brought on by the touch of the other as their muscles clenched tight, their breathing almost coming to a halt, then both bodies collapsing, panting for air. 

“Thank you,” they both said together, and then started a weak chuckle, for it was just one more sign of how much a like they could be. Forgoing habit, both lovers curled up to each other and fell asleep, their bodies finding the rest they needed; they would talk later. 

************

“Captain, we’re being hailed,” Harry said with surprise, since there was no ship around as far as their sensors could tell. He checked the signal, knowing that the Captain would want to know by whom, and was a bit surprised, “It’s KayLor of section 183”

Janeway arched a brow, they had not heard from the Borg resistance in some time, but she would not turn away from those in need, “Put it through.” 

The screen lit up and the alien Borg known at KayLor came into view, some of his races’ orange skin color starting to show under all the implants, but his face was not pleased, but filled with concern. “Captain Janeway, I am glad that we were able to reach you.”

“KayLor, what seems to be the problem?” she inquired, knowing it had to be important for them to risk contact, for the resistance, though growing, was still small compared to the Borg collective itself. 

“Dire news, Captain,” he said, his green eyes piecing hers with great intensity. “We have just received word that the Queen is up to no good once more, but this time, she has developed a new weapon that she appears to be quiet confident will work against species 86472, something we can not allow, since it is with their support that our resistance continues.” 

“I would tend to agree,” Kathryn said her own concern in her eyes. Nothing dealing with the Borg Queen meant anything but trouble. 

“We do not have the particulars, the agent that retrived this much information for us was risking their life, their contact killed. We only know that the Queen has retrieved two vital parts for her plan, one from the Alpha quadrant the other the Gamma quadrant and are heading your way in route to meet with the Queen in order to combine the three elements she requires for the success of her plan and the creation of her latest weapon. This must not be allowed to happen. We are prepared to stall the Queen’s arrival but we need you to either retrieve the vital elements or destroy them; however, we would like to know what they are in order to figure out what she has planned.” 

Janeway sat back in her chair, her breath taken away, “That’s a tall order, KayLor.” 

“Forgive me, Captain, but you are the only ship in the area that can be trusted and have any chance of over taking the Borg vessel. I do have a scrambler code that I will send you, it will aid in allowing you access behind Borg shields and prevent them from contacting the Queen, though she will eventually notice them…missing.” 

“I understand,” she replied seriously. “Send us all the information you have on this Borg Vessel and what we are looking for…”

“That’s just it, Captain; we don’t know what you are looking for, only that the Queen must not get it.” 

There was little choice in this matter. “Very well,” she said, and gave her best reassuring smile, “we’ll do what we can.”

“I’ve sent all the information we have, Captain…good luck,” with that the screen when black. 

“Okay, Mr. Kim. I want all that information downloaded to my office, and I want a senior staff meeting in one hour,” she ordered. With a look to Chakotay, she handed him the bridge and moved to her office to see just how much trouble Voyager was going to be getting in. 

************

With the information KayLor provided and the scramble code, the plan was relatively easy, get in, take down the core power source, spread out, find the two most protected areas on board, get in, grab it, get out; if not, blow everything to hell. 

Tom Paris danced Voyager around the spherical Borg craft, like a professional dancer against a novice, a bad one at that. He got them in close enough to relay the scramble code and soon the shields were down and while Voyager took out weapons, the two teams were beamed in as close to the core as possible, led by Chakotay and Tuvok. 

Tuvok lead his group to the core as Chakotay kept a low profile while Seven of Nine infiltrated the Borg computer system, trying to locate the items in question or at least knowledge to what they were. 

“As suspected, both items are in the center rooms, they are being kept separate. Orders are that they are not allowed to come together until the neurocompositor has been implanted,” she said. 

“Neuro…what?” Chakotay asked quietly. 

“I am unsure of the particulars, but whatever it is that they are guarding, it is capable of thought, thus requires mental control,” she said evenly. “I have their locations and I am marking us a path so when Commander Tuvok has the power off, we will still be able to find our way around to our destination with some ease. 

Chakotay nodded, and waited quietly, hating every second being on this ship, his nerves were on edge, and if he was upset about it, he knew his crew was worse. 

When the lights flickered and then went out, Chakotay gave the signal, and moved along the corridors that Seven had managed to turn on red emergency lights, keeping the power source separate from the core. They ran into a few drones, but with the scramble code in affect, they were easily dealt with and continued their decent into the center of the Borg ship. 

Once they arrived, they took note of the two separate rooms, both had long sarcophagus’ in them made of metal and plastic; the one to the far left had wires running through it, while the one to the far right had tubing and a strange liquid coursing through them. 

The one to the far left was going to be the easiest for the team to take out first, since between the two rooms, it was the least guarded. Chakotay gave the silent signal for his team to split into two and move in quietly, for the Borg guards though confused, were self powered, unlike others that would be stuck in their chambers. 

“Go!” Chakotay shouted and they moved in taking out the guards, securing the room, the security taking up post as Seven and Chakotay moved to the sarcophagus to figure out what it was they were going to be bringing on board or destroying. 

Seven moved to the console and taped her com bade, “We are in section 273.45 I need power to this room.” 

“Affirmative,” Tuvok’s voice replied and moment later power was restored to the single room. 

Chakotay ordered the guards to the farthest perimeter, but still in sight, he had no intentions of losing anyone on this mission. “Don’t fire unless you have to, it will only draw their attention.” Greg nodded he understood and passed the orders along.

“Commander I need a hand,” Seven said as she moved from the console to the sarcophagus and started to undo clamps, and Chakotay hoisted his phaser rifle and did the same. Together they carefully lifted off the metallic lid, and were met with the cold wisps of white air, the temperature way below zero, but as the lid was removed there was a spark from the lid, where a wire ran down into the cold filled vat. 

Carefully, Chakotay looked in but couldn’t see anything, than looked at Seven, “I’ll let you handle it, we’re going for the other one,” he said. 

“Acknowledged,” Seven said fully confident that she could handle this assignment. 

Chakotay left three of the six guards with Seven and moved to take out the other Borg drones, and as tricky as it was, they managed and moved into the room. The difference between this room and the other one besides more guards and tubes instead of wire in the sarcophagus was that this room was self powered, or at least the sarcophagus was. 

Chakotay ran a scanner, knowing he wouldn’t get a reading, nothing in this ship showed up on their scans. Had they not been sitting in wait for this thing, they would never have noticed it. Following Seven’s lead from the other room, he slowly started removing clamp getting Greg to assist him, and then carefully moved the lid, it too was filled with the cool fog and he couldn’t see into the large vat, though he could tell it was filled with some kind of liquid that was not solid, but thick and dark. 

“Commander, we have a problem,” Jones, said over their com badge. 

The other room was not that far so Chakotay gestured for two of the three to remain and he and Greg moved to check out the problem. He entered the room in time to see Seven being knocked to the floor by a strange silver glob that had emerged from the sarcophagus, and was moving in an irrational manner, shifting shape and knocking back anyone that got close to it. 

“What the hell is that?” Chakotay said not sure if shooting it would be a good idea. He looked over to see Seven stand up, “You alright?” 

“I am fine, Commander, however whatever was asleep is now fully awake, making our job more complicated.” 

Chakotay wanted to snort ‘thanks for stating the obvious’ but his reaction was cut off, “Commander, something’s getting out of the vat,” Warren said with some concern over the com unit. 

Just as Chakotay acknowledged the security officer, he noticed the silver glob suddenly start to vibrate wildly and ooz out of the sarcophagus toward the door. 

“They are not to join,” Seven said with concern. 

Chakotay closed the door, unfortunately thinking quickly, it left him and Greg inside and not able to assist Warren. “Just because the Borg Queen…” he started to say but was interrupted. 

“She wanted to have control over the weapon, Commander. If we let it join, we will not. We must apprehend it at once,” Seven replied. 

The silver ooz had moved fully out of the sarcophagus and was a large blob half the size of Seven and slimmer in form; it also was intelligent, for it sensed the door close and quickly shimmed around the room, and in a quick dash burst into a ventilation shaft, but not before knocking around the crew and damaging the control console. 

“Get out of there Warren,” Chakotay warned, “The…thing from this room is headed your way, and if the two things meet…” 

It took a while, and Tuvok and Kathryn continued to remind the away party that this was Borg they were dealing with; they didn’t have time to be playing. If they couldn’t retrieve the items, they would have to blow the ship up. 

Chakotay hated failed missions, and so, once Warren had the door open, he asked Kathryn for a few more minutes, stating that he was going to get a look at this weapon, so at least they had something for their troubles. He had just closed his com badge when a soul piercing wail filled the air, coming from the other room. 

Chakotay dashed with rifle in hand toward the other room, and as his team kept the now approaching Borg drones busy, he moved in to investigate what the hell was going on and what made that sound. The room was now dark, for what ever the unit was doing was no longer needed and the power automatically cut. Chakotay turned on the rifle light, and slowly, careful searched the room, his Starfleet training showing in full as he side stepped into the darkness. 

It was soft, and with all the other noise from the outside, he almost missed it, but it was there…a whimper, not far from him…to his right. He quickly turned in that direction, his light engulfing the right corner, and a fearful muffled cry filled the air, as Chakotay saw what was making the noise, and his eyes went wide with disbelief. In the far corner was a silver humanoid male, huddled and scared to death. 

“Chakotay, we don’t have time for this, we have to blow up the ship now, KayLor just informed us the Queen is on her way,” Kathryn said with urgency. 

Slowly Chakotay reached for his badge, “Um, we can’t destroy…it,” he said softly, as he lowered the rifle part of his weapon, keeping the light trained on the scared figure. 

“Why not?”

“Because, it’s alive,” Chakotay said, and for him that was all there was to it. He laid down the gun, and held up his hand, “Its okay,” he said in his most soothing tone. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he added as he took a slow step forward. 

He saw the humanoid male, peek out from his arms that were tightly wrapped around his body and head, and spotted the deepest richest dark eyes looking back at him, though completely scared. Chakotay could tell that the silver male was unclothed for he could see the fine outlines of a slim though muscular body as it trembled. “It’s not safe here,” he said taking another step, wishing he could tell the guards to stop firing, but he wouldn’t dare, they were fighting for their lives and his. “I’m going to get you out of here,” he said softly, figuring that whatever race this was, they surely didn’t want to be here any more than he did. 

The doe like eyes went wide, then in a surprisingly fast dash, scrambled from the corner into Chakotay’s arms, literally jumping into them, and was trembling. Chakotay had to suppress a laugh, for he was touched by this act of trust, but another round of phaser fire reminded him, he didn’t have time for this. He shifted his light burden so he could reach his badge over the sleek smooth silver body, “I’ve got him, get us out of here, beam me to sickbay,” he said. Even in the lower light, he could appreciate the beautifully built body of the male in his arms, but kept himself as professional as possible; then feeling the tingle of the transporter, he relaxed. 

*************

“What do you mean he’s human?” Chakotay said as he looked at the EMH like he had a computer glitch. “He’s silver…head to toe, no body hair…silver?” 

“I said ‘he’ was human, I didn’t say what was covering him was human,” The Doctor clarified. 

“Covering him?” Chakotay asked as he looked down at the sleeping form on the biobed. As soon as they arrived the poor young male passed out, and now he lay with a blanket covering half his body while the Doctor examined him. 

“Yes, covering him. It seems that whatever this substance is, it is almost able to completely mask itself from my scanner, and if it were not…silver, I would have first thought it was skin. However, with some extra investigation, I was able to tell it is not, but something acting like a second skin, covering the body, though allowing the inner body the oxygen it needs to breathe, it is otherwise well protected. Thus it is a good thing he is in good health.” 

“Why’s that?”

“Commander, didn’t I just say he was well protected? The second layer of ‘skin’ is the strongest substance I believe we have ever come across, nothing I have will penetrate it.” 

“Penetrate what?” Janeway inquired as she moved in spotting the young silver man on the biobed. She took a moment to notice how fine of a male specimen he was before returning her gaze back to the EMH. “What do we have here?” 

“As far as I can tell, Captain, we have a human male approx. twenty-six twenty-seven years old in very excellent physical condition. We also have a living substance that I know very little about that is acting like a second skin, and from what I am reading, impenetrable.”

A soft moan from the biobed got everyone’s attention as the young man stirred, tossing to his side and pulling the blanket up on his strong slim shoulder. The EMH stepped back and looked down, meeting the groggy gaze of his patient. “I am glad that you are awake,” he smiled, trying to use his latest bedside manner file. 

The slim figure on the bed moans and pulled the blanket up over his head, as if this simple act would make everything go away. There was silence for a moment then all of a sudden the young man bolts up, staring at his body, then looks around him, and realization dawns on him, that this is no dream…the nightmare is real. 

“It’s okay, your safe now,” Chakotay said, stepping closer, letting his presence offer the same security this young man had found before with him, seeing the young man was about to hyperventilate. 

The young man turns toward him, his dark does eyes once more going wide as he looks at Chakotay, then blinks looking at Janeway, “The…the Borg…” he stuttered softly in a rich accented voice. 

Janeway could understand what the young man was feeling, hell she’d been through it herself, but whatever they were doing with this young man, she wasn’t sure. “I’m Captain Janeway of the USS Voyager. We rescued you from a Borg ship, and I was wondering if by any slight chance you had an…idea what they…were going to do with you?” She hated asking that question, but she needed to know, KayLor needed to know…hell they all needed to know what that bitch was up too. 

“B…Bashir, Doctor Julian Bashir,” the young man replied, trying to keep a grip on things, while pulling the all too thin blanket up and around him. 

“Ah, a fellow collogue,” the Doctor said, pleased at the aspect and forgetting that this was his patient for a moment. 

“Not funny, Doctor Zimmerman,” Julian hissed, his dark eyes going narrow. 

“Doctor who?” Kathryn asked? 

“Ah, Doctor Zimmerman was my creator, and used his own physical form as a template to create…me,” the EMH said. 

Chakotay was about to reply when he noticed that the silver substance on the young doctor was vibrating, seeming to become irritated along with the young man. “He’s a hologram,” Chakotay said in a soothing tone, watching with fascination that the substance eased as did the young man. “I hate to be the barer of bad news, but you’re in the Delta quadrant now and on Voyager.” 

Julian looked around confused for a moment, “Delta…how?” 

“The Borg has transwarp capabilities that allow them to travel from quadrant to quadrant, we…are not so lucky,” Janeway said. “I’m sorry, but back to the question at hand…?”

“No, not really,” Julian said pulling the blanket tighter, and then gave a grateful look to the Commander when he was brought another blanket and wrapped it around him. “I was working on the station, Deep Space Nine, when all of a sudden the red alert klaxon sounded. I first thought it was the Dominion, but… the next thing I knew there were Borg in sickbay and I was grabbed and knocked out. Not too much more than waking up in some vat of goo, and being attacked…” he looked down at his body and stretched out a hand, and shivered. “This…it came at me…I….” he closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, but he was shaking. 

Chakotay acting on instinct moved forward and cradled the young man against him and lent some support to the frightened man, who under the circumstances was holding up quite well. “Relax,” he said, and rubbed the young man’s blanketed shoulder. 

Janeway noted seeing her lover giving comfort to another, but she was in full Captain Mode, and would think about this later. “All we know was that we were to intercept two items, one taken from the Alpha quadrant the other the Gamma, before they reached the Borg Queen and construct her latest weapon.”

“Weapon?” Julian looked puzzled as he looked at the Captain. “I’m a doctor…I…?” 

“Relax, Doctor,” The EMH said, “The substance won’t allow me to administer a sedative or any medical treatment, so please, take it easy.” 

Julian was afraid, and though he didn’t recall anything, he knew part of him would remember for he could feel it in his body. The only thing keeping him together was the unexpected comfort he was receiving from the First Officer, and though it was totally illogical, he couldn’t help but be grateful for it. The man was strong, soothing, and made him feel safe, and it also caused other feelings that Julian wasn’t ready to deal with; then there was the Captain, her strong calmness also added to him being able not to freak out at this crisis. Under different circumstances…he shook that thought from his head; he needed to be here and now, not in la-la land. “Can I see the readings?” he asked in his soft lilt voice. 

The EMH showed him the readings, a smug look on his face, “As I said, we don’t …

“It’s changeling material?” Julian said with surprise. 

“Changeling…as in the Founders?” Janeway asked, since they had been updated on the Dominion situation via Pathfinder. 

“Yes, except it’s not…fully evolved…” he sighed, “It’s the best way I can put it. It also explains why I can…sense it, but don’t feel overpowered by it.” 

“Fascinating,” The EMH said. 

“That’s all well and good, but what would the Borg Queen want with a less evolved Changeling, and a human from the alpha Quadrant; its not like she doesn’t have enough humans of her own,” she said. 

As soon as Julian had stopped trembling, Chakotay got the young man a sickbay jumpsuit to wear, “You may feel more comfortable in this until we can get you some regular clothes.” 

Julian turned to the First Officer and when their eyes locked, a wave of safety flooded him, for he really felt that so long as this man was near by he’d never be harmed; irrational as it was, it was how he felt, and it showed in his smile and his eyes.

“Look,” The EMH said. 

Everyone turned to notice that the silver substance was retracting, no longer covering the young man, and smooth golden flesh could be seen, along with soft dark hair that looked smooth under the silver covering. The silver contracted to six main locations, wrists, ankles, waist and neck, looking like fine silver bands. 

“Well, that was most interesting,” the Doctor said as everyone looked on. 

Julian pulled the blanket closer after taking a look to see where the ‘stuff’ went. “I wonder why it did that?” he asked softly. 

It was Chakotay that replied, “How are you feeling at the moment?” 

Julian looked at him then at the Captain, “Besides, cold,” he said, trying to use a bit of humor, that only the Captain and Chakotay got, he continued, “I feel okay.” 

“Safe?” Janeway asked catching on to what Chakotay may be getting at. 

“Yeah…why…? You think this stuff reacts to my emotions?” Julian asked. 

“It’s one theory, but I did notice as you got irritated it did too, so perhaps,” Chakotay said, taking in the gorgeous features of the man before him, for as a silver humanoid he was very easy on the eyes, but with his golden honey skin and dark lashes that kissed his cheek, Chakotay thought beautiful was too much of an understatement to describe the young healer. Though he did manage to look up just long enough to know he was not the only one surveying the delectable man before them, as Kathryn had that subtle look that only a few could see or understand; he was one of them. 

“Well, regardless, I at least can get a reading on you, and you are dehydrated and in need of rest,” the EMH said, and to prove his point he used a hypo on the young man. “Mild sedative.” 

Julian looked irritated, “Remind to me reprogram him when I wake up,” he yawned, and shifted to the side and scrambled to put on the jumpsuit before he fell asleep, for he was cold and didn’t want to be so vulnerable. He was assisted back to bed by the Doc and Chakotay and was a sleep before his head hit the pillow. 

“Reprogram me,” the EMH snorted with irritation. 

Chakotay got a sly smile, “Be careful, Doc. He is a ‘real’ doctor, and that technically means he out ranks you.” 

The EMH looked devastated. “My word…that’s right. That would make him….” he shook his head and stumbled away in disbelief that this ‘kid’ would out rank him. He got to the door of his office, “Well, he may out rank me because he’s flesh and blood, but he can’t out perform me,” he quips and moves off. 

“I’ll contact KayLor, but none of this makes any sense. The Queen prizes technology, why kidnap Julian and this changeling material?” she said, ignoring the EMH’s rants. 

“He did say that the Queen’s latest focus was species 86472, and we already know technology isn’t effective on them,” Chakotay replied, taking in the face of their new crew member. 

“He is rather…stunning,” Kathryn says softly, smiling seeing Chakotay blush a little. 

“Yes, he is,” Chakotay admits, not believing he is having this conversation. 

Kathryn looks around, then back at her lover and steps closer to him, “I didn’t know you went that way?” she teased. 

Chakotay’s face blushed even more. “Well, not usually, but…” he cleared his throat, “Kat, this isn’t the time or place…” 

“Your right, my place 20:30, dinner, be prepared to talk…in detail,” she smirked then with a deep leer, moved out of sickbay, taking in both handsome men as she did so. 

Chakotay watches his lover leave, then looked at the sleeping angel before him, “Well, seems that you have become a valued commodity out here,” he said softly, referring to how he knew Kathryn was lusting at him, he included, and of course whatever the reason the Borg Queen was after him. He brushed soft curls aside and tucked the young man in, before heading out to return to his duties. 

*****End Part I*******


	2. Chapter 2

Julian was sitting in sickbay, watching as the EMH ran another battery of test on him, still not getting any result, and ignoring Julian’s suggestions, since he was a patient. At first he thought that the EMH was feeling threatened by him, then thought better, for about two seconds…this Hologram was afraid Julian would take him off line and was trying to prove himself. 

“Look, there is no reason we can’t work together,” he said, trying to make some headway with this program. “You are more familiar with the Delta quadrant as I am with the Gamma, and we both know about the Alpha, certainly together we can make some progress.” 

The EMH looked over his shoulder at Julian, and grudgingly nodded, “that would seem like the most logical course of action at the moment.” 

Julian slipped off the biobed, glad that he now had some boots to ware along with the jumpsuit, and with the long sleeves one couldn’t see most of the silver bands that were still present on his body, except for the very thin one around his neck. He moved easily over to the console and started reading the information and started adding input from memory of what he knew about the Founders physiology. 

Quietly the EMH was impressed that this young man recalled so much information, but refused to be out done by a human, and continued on with his work. The two healers continued their work in silence…

“Jules?” 

Julian turned around and his dark eyes went wide, “Tom?” He couldn’t believe it; he was looking at Tom Paris. Without a second thought he moved across the room and met the young blond in the middle as the two men hugged each other. “My word, I can’t believe it!” 

“You can’t believe it, I…let me look at you,” Tom said, pushing the other man gently back and scanning him with is eyes, “Damn, still look good,” he laughed and hugged him tightly. 

“I’m going to presume you two know each other, or I want a copy of Mr. Paris’ first contact manual,” Chakotay chuckled as he stepped into sickbay to check on the young healer and saw the two cutest men on Voyager hugging, a picture he wouldn’t be forgetting anytime soon. 

Tom turned around laughing, one arm around Julian, “Know him, damn he’s family as far as I’m concerned,” reaching over and musing Julian’s dark hair in a playful manner. 

“Our Fathers knew each other and dragged us both to most of the same parties, so being the only two boys or kids around our age, we became fast friends,” Julian added, laughing, and tickling Tom in order to make Tom stop scrubbing on his head. 

Tom stopped and then looked more serious. “Don’t take this wrong, for I’m damn glad to see you, I’m just sorry…you’re here, if you know what I mean.” 

Julian looked at Tom and nodded. “I understand,” then hugged Tom again, “It’s good to see you too. So,” he said leaning back, “Tell me how is my brother doing?” 

“Brother?” Chakotay asked, almost grateful for the clarification of the relationship between Tom and Julian, for deep down, he had his own hopes, ones he knew a certain brunet Captain shared too after their conversation last night. 

“Julian and I have known each other for so long, we sort of adopted each other,” Tom grinned. Then he showed Julian his hand, “See…married, and soon, to be a father, can you believe that? Me…a father!” 

Julian was stunned but happy for Tom, “I can’t wait to meet…her?” he asked, just making sure he wasn’t jumping to any conclusions. 

“Yeah, her name is B’Elanna and Chief Engineer. Don’t worry, you’ll meet her soon enough, for we are most defiantly having dinner once you are cleared from this place,” Tom said. 

“I can’t wait,” Julian added with his own anticipation, not only meeting the woman that made Tom so happy and was his wife and mother to be, but getting out of sickbay, as far as being a patient anyway. 

“I just wanted to stop in and see for myself if it really was you,” Tom said, giving the other man a half hug. “I have to meet B’El for lunch and then I got to get back to the bridge; catch you later…Commander,” Tom said, and then exited. 

Chakotay was glad that Julian knew someone on board Voyager, it would aid in his adjustment to being all the way out here. “Speaking of lunch, have you eaten?” 

Julian could almost feel the heat crawl into his face, hoping to contain his blushing, he turned away slightly, “Ah, no, no I haven’t.” 

“No one here in sickbay has eaten, but thank you for inquiring,” the EMH said rather huffy. 

Chakotay arched a brow as he saw the EMH retreat to his office, “What’s with him?”

“Oh, he’s just feeling threaten by my presence,” Julian replied, moving over to the consol, checking some information, anything so not to stare at the handsome First Officer behind him. 

Chakotay took a quiet deep breath, for he knew that he needed to move slow, Julian had just arrived and has been through a traumatic experience, and it was far from over, but that didn’t mean he had to go through it alone. He took a small step closer, “Would you care to join me for lunch?” 

Julian felt a smile cross his face, even as he kept his back to the older man, “I’d like that.” Then he gathered his emotions and checked himself as the turned, looking rather composed. “We still have not found anything ‘useful’ as to why this changeling material has in a sense bonded to me or why…anything,” he said, trying to keep a bit of focus, for as much as he felt drawn to this man, it was way too soon to be dealing with this sort of thing. 

“Well, we have time,” Chakotay replied, gesturing for Julian to follow him, and he led the young man out of sickbay, feeling a bit sad that this would be his first Delta Quadrant meal, but he was sure the young man would like to meet other crewmembers. “You should be informed that the reason we found out about any of this is from the Borg resistance,” Chakotay said, as he led Julian into the turbolift. 

“Borg…has a resistance?” 

“Yes, some of the drones were able to fight against their programming and regain their individuality and have grouped together with some other races that have been able to resist the Borg and have formed a resistance. A few members dwell deep in the Collective and they got word that the Queen was attempting to create a new weapon to use against a particular species only known as 86472, that Borg technology has proven useless. What little we know of that particular race is that they use a great deal of mental powers and their physical form is almost impossible to pin down…thus a good ally for the resistance.” 

Julian nodded, for it made sense, that if the Borg couldn’t touch their enemy, they couldn’t assimilate them. He noticed a few crewmembers looking at him as they walked out of the lift down the hall. Chakotay took the time to introduce him to Greg Alaya, and Ken Dalby, as well as the Delaney Sisters that didn’t waste anytime flirting with the young man, much to Chakotay’s silent disapproval. 

Julian couldn’t but help feel his heart flutter when he saw the small scowl cross the strong dark face of the Firs Officer when the twins were shamelessly flirting with him. It meant that he was not alone in what he felt was a strong attraction, and he hoped for things to settles soon, so he could explore this possibility, even though it had been a very long time since he had a male lover, the Commander was definitely making him want to change that very soon. Then the two of them entered the mess hall and Julian felt slightly overwhelmed by the warm greeting he received by everyone he met; for it seemed that Tom had spread the word that his ‘little’ brother was on board, even if Tom was younger my three months, the blond wouldn’t accept that trivial bit of news, and dubbed Julian the ‘kid’ between the two of them. 

Harry Kim came up to Julian and introduced himself, and teased Julian that he did look like Tom, except he had been under the ultraviolet light too long; where others would joke that one Tom Paris was enough, they didn’t know if they could handle Tom’s ‘kid’ brother, even if they all knew it was an emotional bond and not biological. Julian hadn’t felt this good around a large group of people in a long time, and he was glad it was here among these people that it was happening. 

He joined Chakotay for lunch and more to the First Officer’s surprise, actually liked the food. He then explained that he liked Klingon and Cardassian food, and this wasn’t too far from the same thing. The two men settled into a quiet conversation about the Delta quadrant, when they both saw a figure standing over the table and looked up. 

“Mind if I join you?” Janeway inquired her tray in hand. 

“Please,” Chakotay replied warmly. 

“Yes, please do, Captain,” Julian said, feeling that only Tom’s presence could make this gathering any better. 

“I see that you are feeling better,” Janeway said as she sipped her coffee. 

“Oh, yes, much. I’m still a bit shaken about all…this, but…better. The EHM and I are still working on understanding what…this stuff is all about,” he said gesturing to the thin silver band around his neck. 

Janeway grinned, “Well, I can tell you that the Queen is beside herself at losing the two of you.” She looked at Chakotay, “KayLor contacted me, and it seems that she is tossing the quadrant upside down looking for us, but for some reason believes we are in the opposite direction of here.” 

Chakotay grinned, “I hope you gave KayLor our thanks.” 

“I did.” 

Julian looked serious, “Pardon me, but shouldn’t you be…more upset about this? I mean…having the Borg…looking for you?” 

Janeway could understand what the young man was referring too. “Normally yes, but we’ve been dealing with her for years, this is nothing new; except this time we are not alone. Sadly it’s something you get use to, being out here in the Delta.” 

“Too true, its one thing after another out here,” Chakotay added. 

“Oh,” was all Julian could say, quietly sipping on his tea. His eyes became unfocused, showing that he had withdrawn in thought. A touch on his hand drew him back as he looked up to see the Captain’s hand on his own. 

“It’s not your fault,” she said as if reading her mind. 

“How can it not be? She…she came after me when she had….” He couldn’t say it, and slowly removed his hand from under hers. “There is a possible reason as to why she chose me over other humans,” he said quietly.

Janeway and Chakotay shared a look then gave the young man their full attention. Julian looked rather nervous, but it was the only thing that made sense. “I’m not sure…how…she might have found out about it…but…” he sighed. //Hell, Jules, you’ve been through this, Starfleet has accepted you,// he thought giving him courage to continue. “Starfleet knows about this, but…” he looked from dark open eyes to grey-blue, “When I was a child my parents had me…altered. I’ve been genetically enhanced.” Julian held his breath waiting for whatever reaction he was going to receive, but seeing the two officers simply looking back at him as if say, ‘that’s all?’ was not one of them. 

Chakotay and Kathryn gave an understanding smile, though it was Kathryn who spoke first. “We received you file late last night via Pathfinder and we know all about your genetic makeup, Doctor. You will also be glad to know that your parents have been notified that you are well along with your Station commander. No one was hurt when the Borg attacked; it was a clean in and out operation.” 

Julian looked stunned, than a bit angry, “You…you knew? Why…why didn’t you say anything sooner?” 

“Calm down, Julian,” Chakotay said, reaching out and placing his own hand on the young man’s arm. “We thought you needed some time to adjust before hitting you with all this, that’s all. Though I am glad that you were forward with us about the matter, for it also is what Starfleet thinks is the reason they singled you out. We also informed them about the changeling material, and they are as in the dark about it we are.” 

Feeling the Commander’s hand on his arm helped to calm him, but he wished they would have told him this first thing, but as he thought about it, he could see why they would want to wait. “I’m sorry,” he said softly. 

“For what?” Kathryn asked, her smile saying all was well. “Well, since we decided to have a promp-tu meeting on this matter,” she grinned. “KayLor and a representative of species 86472 will be meeting up with us in a few days. They are as curious as to what the Queen has in mind as we are, perhaps together we can figure it out and put a stop to it once and for all, sound good?” 

“Sounds good by me,” Julian replied, feeling much more relaxed. 

“Good. Well, I have to get back to the bridge, Commander Chakotay will see to it that you are properly settled in your own quarters and help you get whatever you need. You think in a couple of days if nothing seems out of the ordinary you’d be up to a shift in sickbay?” she asked her eyes sparkling. 

Julian felt his face start to blush again, //what is it about these two,// he asked himself, then focused, “I think so. Though for the record, will I or the EMH be in charge…I’m not making a fuss, but…” 

Chakotay laughed. “The Doc is giving him a hard time. Seems he feels threaten by our young CMO here.” 

Kathryn chuckled. “Well, technically, you would be CMO, but if you can I’d like you two to work together.”

“I’ll certainly give it a shot,” Julian replied, not able to fully keep the little smug look off his face, knowing he would soon be able to boss that glitch around. 

“Good. Then, in addition to everything else, how about you join the Commander and me for dinner tomorrow night, for I happen to have it on good authority that there is a certain Chief pilot planning on kidnapping you tonight.” 

Julian’s eyes sparkled, “I’d like that…I mean diner, not the kidnapping, I mean I want dinner with Tom…” he let out a breath. “Sounds great.” 

Kathryn gave Julian’s arm a pat as well as Chakotay’s their eyes locking for a moment, as if passing a silent message, then she headed out. Chakotay turned his attention back to the young doctor and they resumed their meal. 

************

Julian felt on top of the world this morning as he entered sickbay in uniform, to start his first shift as CMO of Voyager. He knew the EMH was upset about the news, and Julian, though not caring too much for the smug glitch, did feel compassionate, and informed him that he would like to try to work as equals, for Julian knew the EMH had more knowledge about practicing medicine out here then he did and he respected that. 

That wasn’t the only reason for his good mood, two nights ago he had dinner with Tom and B’Elanna and he couldn’t help but feel good about himself, showing that not only did he like Klingon food, he understood traditions and their language; according to Tom, he had won his sister-in-law’s heart. 

Then last night there was dinner with the two most fascinating people he was sure he would ever meet. Sure Garak was a true enigma, but one that refused to be solved, as with the Captain and the Commander, he was sure that with time and dedicated persistence; they would unwrap for the right person. Silently he did thank Elim Garak, for the older Cardassian teaching him the finer art of observation; otherwise he would have missed out on all the Captain’s very subtle flirtations, along with the Commanders. He also noted that he didn’t feel like the bumbling idiot he did around most people, no, he didn’t feel that way around Kathryn and Chakotay; thinking about them on a first name bases brought a smile to his face once more. 

“Good morning, Doctor,” the EMH said, slightly glaring at the Chronometer, for Julian was thirty seconds late for his shift. 

Julian refused to be cast down from his cloud because of a Hologram with a jealous streak. “Good morning, Doctor and what a wonderful morning it is!” he smiled in return as he moved in to see what was on the scheduled besides more tests on the changeling substance and why he and it were combined, and set to work. 

By noon the huge smile was wiped off his face, as he stormed quietly across the room, to input some information in regards to a patient, just as Tom entered sickbay. 

“I’d say good afternoon, but…damn, Jules, what’s wrong?” Tom inquired out of concern. 

“Wrong? Wrong! I know I promised the Captain that I would do my best to work with that pile of…of…rejected electro lights…but….grrrr!” 

Tom simply laughed, for he knew all too well how irritating the EMH was, “I know what you mean, but give it time…it gets worse,” he teased. 

“Oh great,” Julian moaned. He was about to comment more when the Red Alert klaxon sounded at the same time the ship rocked violently, sending Tom crashing into Julian. 

The two men barely got to their feet when the sound of humming filled the air, and soon the room was filled with three Borg drones. “Fuck!” Tom shouted, wishing like hell he had a phaser or something. He grabbed the nearest heavy item he could and swung it at the drone heading in his direction to no avail. 

While one drone was going after Tom, one was attempting to attack the EMH to no avail, not sensing it was a hologram, as the third came straight for Julian. As the drone reached out to grab him, Julian felt the substance coat his body placing a barrier between him and the Borg’s touch, so when the injection drones usually use to assimilate new species hit it broke instead of doing its usual function. Then time seemed to slow into a new dimension for Julian, he could see all that was happening and process it, the drone on the EMH had realized the doc was not real and now concentrated on Tom who was now cornered and about to be grabbed. 

“No!” he cried out, his voice sounding slow and sluggish to how fast things were really going…then all went black. 

Tom heard the cry, and while at the same time trying to fend off the drone, fear in his eyes, he saw the silver form blur from the corner of his eye, and soon the drone before him was no longer there but on the floor across the way, having left a large indentation of its broken body in the floor. The next thing Tom noticed was that Julian was not only covered in the silver substance over his uniform and body, but his eyes were also covered and glowing an eerie silver white. Then he saw Julian turn to the other drone and reach out his arm in a swinging motion, the substance shaped into an extension of his arm and then thinned into a sharp blade and penetrated the drones shields and cut the body in two. 

“Julian?” Tom called out, and he shivered when Julian paid him no mind, but turned to the last drone, his movements graceful, fluent, but calculated and he attacked. He saw Julian spring from a stranding position and leap over the drone while a part of his body once again shifted into a blade, taking off the head of the drone as Julian landed easily on the otherside of where the body now lay. 

Tom felt afraid, for this was not Julian, the man he knew was destined to be a healer, this was something else, and when it looked in his direction, he felt fear. “J…Julian?” He saw the now silver form of his friend move toward him, slow, calculated, and he was not sure if he should run or remain still, but then the ship shook again, a reminder that the Borg was still out there. He saw the now smooth, unreadable face of Julian turn upward, as if peering out beyond the walls, the silver white glow in the eyes intensifying, then turn back to one of the dead drones and walked slow and gracefully across to the dead bodies and reached down and pulled up something from the body, and before Tom realized it was a transporter signal, since he had seen them use it before, Julian activated it and was gone.

“Paris to Janeway!” 

“Tom, we could use you…”

“The Borg was here…Julian…he…he’s on the ship,” he said, unsure how to explain it all in a few seconds. “He went all silver and then killed three drones and purposely took a Borg signal and transported over there!” 

“WHAT?”

Tom could hear the fear, the disbelief and the concern in Janeway’s voice, “If I didn’t see it…”

“Tom, get up here ASAP,” Chakotay ordered and severed the link. 

Tom shook his head clear, and dashed out of the sickbay, running to the bridge, not sure of what the hell just happened here, but he knew one thing, Voyager and his ‘brother’ was in trouble and they both needed him. 

When he arrived at the bridge, he had just moved to the con in time to see a large portion of the Borg biosphere explode, “What the hell?” 

“Have you found him yet?” Chakotay asked, looking over his shoulder at Harry. 

“No, sir, but I’m getting all kinds of crazy readings. According to this, the Borg drones are dropping like flies.” 

“Captain, I’m detecting a large warp core overload on the Borg ship, we must move away soon or we shall take significant damage,” Tuvok said. 

“We can’t leave him there.” Chakotay replied to Kathryn in a quite and urgent tone. 

“I know,” he said, her tone matching his. “How much time,” she asked, glad to see Tom was behind the con, it would allow her to call it close, but…she couldn’t think, they had to get Julian back…they had too. 

“Five minutes,” Tuvok said. 

“Captain!” Tom cried. 

Everyone looked up to see a silver form materialize with the use of a Borg devise in hand, covered with various colors of blood and mechanical fluids. The bridge fell silent as the figure stared back at them, the silver white eyes still glowing intensely, as the head of a Borg was carried in the other hand.

“Captain, I suggest…” 

“Tom get us out of here!” Chakotay ordered, knowing that Kathryn was just as stunned if not more as he was seeing the sweet young man they had gotten to know over the past few days, standing there like a cold calculated…droid. 

It took a second for Tom to respond, but the urgency of the situation played in his mind and he danced his fingers along the controls getting Voyager away from the Borg ship as fast as was possible, and soon witnessed the ships destructions, then he too was free to stare at the silver form of his friend…brother, standing, staring, not looking human or alive, but like a silver statue; covered in alien blood, with glowing silver white eyes. 

Chakotay was not sure how he found the courage, but he realized he was out of his seat and slowly approaching Julian. “Careful, Commander,” he heard Tom say. He knew if Tom of all people was saying that, Julian was not in control, for he knew the young man would not hurt him, but this…this stuff…? “Julian?” he said in a soft reassuring tone. He suppressed a shiver when the silver glowing eyes peered at him. “Julian, it’s Chakotay, can you hear me? Your safe, now, it’s okay,” he said trying to get as close as he could, but still being careful. 

“That’s right, Julian, your safe now,” Kathryn added, hoping to reinforce Chakotay’s words with her own. “No one is going to hurt you.” 

They both saw Chakotay get right up to Julian, and slowly reached out a hand and gently touched Julian’s shoulder, not sure of what would happen, but all was surprised that at the touch, the substance retracted like it did the first time, and Julian fainted into the Commander’s arms. “Medical emergency, two for transport,” he shouted and seconds later felt the tingle of the beam take him and the young healer away, leaving the head of the drone and the devise on the ground where the two had stood seconds before. 

“The Borg obviously knows we have Julian,” Janeway said, doing her best to keep her voice calm and in control, feeling neither, “I want damage reports ASAP, and I want all shifts to report for repairs. Tom, Harry, get us a place to hide out until we make preparations, I’m sure this is not going to be the first visit we’re going to have.” 

“Yes, Captain,” Harry and Tom replied, too caught up in their jobs to think beyond the moment. 

***********

It was a nightmare, it had to be, but the visions of Borg coming toward him, then being cut to ribbons, alien blood squirting out everywhere filled part of his mind, while another part raced through what looked like a virtual tunnel of wires and energy pulses, searching…hunting…and finding what he was looking for, the core access, and with a thought he set it to overload, the intent to kill everything around him…kill the enemy!

“No!” he cried out, trying hard to break the horrible spell that lingered in his mind and his soul, only to find the source of his comfort was not from within but strong arms that were now holding him; he opened his eyes to see the concerned face of Chakotay, and he knew…he knew it was not just a nightmare…it had been real. “What did they do to me?” he asked as tears fell down his face, his body trembling at the thought of how he killed so many and with such ease. 

“I don’t know, honey, but it’s over with and its going to be okay,” Chakotay said while rocking the young man in his arms, not caring if the term of endearment was too soon; he knew in his heart, as he knew Kathryn did, that it was love at first sight for the both of them, and Julian would need that love more than anything right now. “Just remember it wasn’t you, and you didn’t harm anyone that wasn’t trying to harm you in return,” he said, hoping to reassure the young healer. 

“I…I couldn’t control it, yet…I was in full control,” he stuttered, not sure how to express what it was like. “My body was moving almost separate from my mind, but my mind was…planning…every move…I…” his body trembled even more and Julian looked up to see a hypo being given, and he was unsure to fear or welcome the forced sleep, hoping dreams would evade him as blackness overcame him once more. 

“Is he going to be all right?” Chakotay asked of the Doctor who was running a medical scanner over the young man. 

“Physical, he’s not harmed, emotionally, that’s not something I can comment on, Commander. I too witnessed what Mr. Paris reported on. The substance reacted immediately to the threat of the Borg, and protected him against their assault. Though when it seemed almost evident that the Borg was going to infect Mr. Paris, the substance covered the last remaining aspect of his body, being his eyes and it was like his entire demeanor changed.”

“How so?” 

Both men turned to see that Kathryn had entered the room and obviously been listening to their conversation. “How did he change?” she asked again moving next to Chakotay, seemingly unaware that she took his hand into her own as they stood together. 

“He was emotionally charged, which makes perfect sense considering the Borg, then when he saw Mr. Paris in danger and the substance took over, he was clam, his movements precise, calculated and without error, much like a living machine.” 

“A living machine?” Chakotay said, and then looked at Kathryn as if he hit the ships ration lotto, “A ‘living’ machine…” 

“The perfect balance between machine and man, the Queen’s ultimate design,” Kathryn said, a bit in awe and a bit of fear mixed in her tone. 

“Though I do not think that what Doctor Bashir said was totally accurate,” the EMH added, getting the two officer’s attention. 

“What do you mean, what did he say?” Kathryn asked since she was not present when Julian was awake. 

“He said he didn’t think he was in control, but I must differ on that from my observation of the situation. He singled out the Borg, and made no attempt to bring harm to Mr. Paris or myself,” the EMH added for clarification. “So, to some degree, he or the substance was acting off ‘his’ wishes.” 

“I’m sure Julian will be a bit relieved to hear that,” Chakotay said, though he wasn’t sure it would help a whole lot. 

“Doctor, I want a full report on what happened down here when the Borg attacked, and I want a full update on Jul…Doctor Bashir’s status, understood?” Janeway ordered, suddenly realizing she was holding her lover’s hand and gently removed her own from his. Their eyes met and an understanding was quietly reached, that Julian was in good hands and that they both were needed. 

“I’ll go to engineering and give B’Elanna a hand, we’re going to need to modify the shield harmonics again, they got through way to easy this time,” Chakotay said, and left after getting a nod from Kathryn and a final look at the young man sleeping on the biobed. 

“Take care of him,” she said quietly, then exited out herself, not seeing the dawning realization the EMH had over his two senior officers and the young healer before him. 

****End Part TWO******


	3. Chapter 3

Slowly he woke up and saw the familiar ceiling of Voyager, and he was about to give a tiny moan of disappointment when a warm and beautiful face hovered over him, and a grin escaped his lips instead. “Captain,” he said in a hushed voice, still groggy from the sedative the EMH had given him earlier. 

“Glad to have you back, Julian,” she smiled; her eyes sparkled as her heart registered the relief she was feeling. “The Doc said you would be waking up and I though you could use a friendly face.” 

“I think my face is very friendly,” the EMH quipped, once more sounding affronted. 

Julian gave a snort. “Does he ever stop?” he asked, some hope in his eyes as he looked into shining blue eyes that lingered above him, a feeling of ease filling him. 

“Don’t know, we’re still waiting,” Kathryn teased softly. 

“How is he?” 

Kathryn looked up and smiled, “I believe our good…” but didn’t get to finish the statements she was going to give the Commander when Julian suddenly jumped up in front of her, the silver substance fully active, though dark brown eyes could be seen. 

“Whatever you are, get back,” Julian demanded. 

“Julian, its Commander…” she started to say. 

“It’s not Chakotay! I don’t know what that…thing is…but it’s ‘not’ Chakotay!” he said, automatically positioning his body between Janeway and what all else thought was the Commander. 

Janeway was about to choose who to believe, Julian or her own senses, when she saw the figure of the Commander shift into another form, that of an unknown alien woman. “KayLor sent me, and I wished to test,” she said, her voice smooth and simple, though her black eyes were anything but. “Your concerns of a living machine are valid,” she said, “and must not be allowed to occur.” Her words no sooner spoken then a pulse of energy sparked from her toward Julian and the Captain.

Kathryn felt her body being shoved out of the way of the pulse and as soon as she could look up from the floor, she saw that Julian was once more covered head to toe, his eyes sparking the same silver white, while the EMH called for security and notified the bridge of what was happening down in sickbay. She also noticed that the pulse, that would have killed if not seriously hurt a normal person was simply reflected back at species 86472, sending it stumbling back. Then she saw Julian raise his arm, and could see the energy building in his hand, and could only think to say, “Don’t Kill them!” 

For the longest second she didn’t think it worked, but then the energy in Julian’s hand subsided, though the cold calculated look remained fixed at the alien woman, who actually shivered, realizing that she was staring death in the face. Janeway pushed herself up and moved quickly between Julian and species 86472 in their current form as the alien woman, her eyes on Julian, “Its okay, Julian,” she said, hoping to pull him back from whatever abyss that held him captive while this…warrior was present. “Julian, you ‘are’ in control, if you feel it’s okay, I’m sure…” though she was not sure, she was merely hoping that this was the case. She was rewarded by the silver white glow subsiding and the silver substance moving back from covering the only vulnerable spot, Julian’s eyes. “Julian?” she said, seeing the mixture of anger, fear, and anguish in the dark eyes before her. 

“I…I was going to kill her…she was going to harm…” he couldn’t say anymore, for he realized she was right, this…thing fed off his emotions, and he needed to remain calm and in charge. 

The real Chakotay and security charged into sickbay on what could have been a horrid sight had Kathryn not stopped Julian in time, only to wonder who the woman was and why Julian looked so upset, though his eyes were tight with restraint. “What’s going one here?”

Kathryn turned toward her First Officer, “It seems that species 86472 decided to try and execute Julian,” she snarled, her eyes more on the alien woman. “As you can see, he could have killed you, but he didn’t because ‘he’ is in control, and Julian by nature is no killer. He in fact is a healer, a doctor, and a very scared young man at the moment. How dare you!” Her hackles were up, and anyone with sense knew to stay out of her way, the alien didn’t. 

“He is a threat to us…”

“He ‘was’ a threat to you!” she snapped back. “He’s with ‘us’ now, and if you ‘bothered’ to check with us, you would have known that! He is a living person, an individual, the whole point of what we ‘all’ are fighting against the Borg for! How dare you come on ‘my’ ship and try to kill a member of ‘my’ crew!” 

Chakotay stepped in between the alien and Kathryn, more for the alien’s sake, though is own blood was boiling at the knowledge that this….alien, had tried to kill ‘their’ Julian. He turned toward the woman, “KayLor is here, and if you want to talk, fine, otherwise I strongly suggest you leave.” 

The alien sensing what ‘all’ was going on here on many levels looked between the ‘target’ and the two humans before her. “Very well, I will leave and let my superiors handle the matter, though I warn you. If ‘he’ falls into the wrong hands, he will be quite deadly.” Her warning given she shifted her form and was gone. 

Both Janeway and Chakotay turned toward Julian who silently moved to sit on the biobed. Janeway silently dismissed security, and the EMH, then turned back to see Chakotay standing next to Julian and she moved to stand next to him too. “Don’t listen to them,” she whispered, seeing the devastating look in the young dark eyes. 

“No, she’s right, I’m a walking killing…machine,” Julian whispered, his tone quite, though filled with so much anguish. 

“No, she’s not right,” Chakotay countered. “If she was, you wouldn’t have saved Tom, us from the Borg, nor from what Kathryn said, would that alien been alive to say what she just did. It may have been what the Bitch Queen had in mind for you, but that is ‘not’ what you are.” 

“What am I?” Julian asked, looking up at the two faces he had quickly came to adore as much as he did Tom’s, and in some way even more, tears welling just outside of falling. 

“A protector,” Kathryn replied quickly. “You didn’t try to harm species 86472 until she attacked us, and you ‘protected’ me, as you did Tom and the ship from harm. I don’t know why Julian you were chosen for this…situation, but I do know that the Queen was going to use a nureocapacitor to control you…”

“I can tell you why he was chosen,” a strong and strange voice said. 

Chakotay and Kathryn turned to see KayLor, and both simultaneously placed a comforting hand on Julian. “He’s with us,” Chakotay said to ease the tension he saw building in Julian’s eyes. “KayLor, Doctor Bashir. Julian, one of the leaders of the Borg resistance, KayLor.”

“You can tell me why…why…me?” Julian asked, his eyes wide like a small child, not understanding what was happening. 

“Does the name Doctor Axle Rosenbloom mean anything to you?” KayLor asked, his look locked on the young man on the biobed. 

Julian’s eyes narrowed. “Yes, he’s one of the head Doctors that lead the medical team that did my genetic enhancements…but how…”

“He was assimilated during the war with your species and the Borg, and the Queen has been using his knowledge to manipulate DNA ever since. Then when the Borg discovered the founders, and how to develop the substance you now possess, it was determined that the only way to control it was via a host, and that the host, be controlled by her, but no other alien species among the collective was compatible, though human’s were the closest. After thousands of failures, the DNA sequence desired was discovered, but that normally left the subject mad, and mental control over them was limited and the subject and the substance would destroy themselves. It was then reasoned that only one existed that had the proper DNA sequence to allow joining and remain mentally stable enough to function…”

“Me…” Julian said, his voice a mere breath as horror filled him. 

KayLor simply nodded and looked toward Janeway, “The reason they were not allowed to join sooner, was that they were going to use the cloning techniques acquired from the Founders for once they were joined the substance, partially intelligent, would not allow it to occur, though that has not stopped them from wanting you back in hopes to ‘rectify’ the situation.”

“They…they were going to clone me? And….” Julian felt light headed and swayed only to be caught by Chakotay. 

“Easy,” Chakotay soothed, holding the young man to him, seeing the glassy look in his eyes, and was glad that the substance was retracting under his touch once more. 

“Yes they were,” KayLor replied, not realizing it was a rhetorical question. “The term ‘living’ machine would have been quite appropriate, for I found that it was determined that with you mental capabilities and the substances natural molecular substance together you could alter to fit each situation you came across, and the electrical current that flowed in the substance, would allow you access to other none living machines and control them; as your mental capacity would be enhanced enough to fixate and match that of species 86472 or any other mental warring species the Borg would encounter. In fact, the Queen was tinkering with the idea of a new host body…” 

Kathryn held up a hand, seeing all this information, though needed, was too much for Julian to take in one does. “That’s enough for the moment. The big question is, what do we do now? Surely she knows that she can’t penetrate the substance…”

“Not if the young Doctor is unwilling, no, but if he allowed her…”

“There is no way I’d ever let that…thing near me,” Julian protested, leaning more into the strong arms that held him, not caring what anyone thought, another hand reaching out to take Kathryn’s hand, needing to feel her presence as well. 

KayLor was about to say more, but since he had started to regain more of his individual self, he could see now was not the time to continue this conversation as the Captain had directed. “I will leave you for now, and will wait to discuss this further,” he said, giving a bow, as was custom among his people and left via sickbay doors. 

Kathryn turned toward Julian, drawing his hand to her chest as she stepped closer to Chakotay and Julian, “We’re not going to let anyone hurt you,” she said, her tone a quiet vow. 

Julian looked up into her blue eyes, “But the Borg…they won’t give up…”

“Julian, didn’t you hear, we won’t let ‘anyone’ hurt you,” Chakotay replied, gently cupping the young man’s chin so their eyes met. “The Delta has been no picnic since we got here. If we gave in every time one of our enemies was going to be persistent…”

“We wouldn’t be here now,” Kathryn finished for her lover, reaching out and caressing Julian’s soft dark hair. “We’ve dealt with the Borg before when they wanted Seven of Nine back, and we’ll deal with them again for you,” she smiled. “And though its not very ‘Captainly’ of me, even more so…for you,” she added, her voice low, her eyes intensely locking with the soft dark doe eyes that were now looking at her. The vibe was there and she went for it, leaning in she brushed her lips against Julian’s and gave him a soft loving kiss, and then leaned back, smiling at the slight blush that filled Julian’s beautiful face. 

Chakotay also gave a soft chuckle, “I’d have to agree, it isn’t very Captianly of you,” he teased Kathryn then looked into the dark eyes that now looked up at him, slightly confused, “But I have to agree…especially for you,” he said, then leaned in and kissed the soft lips beneath him sharing the love he felt in that single act, then leaned back to see dark desire filled, though still slightly confused eyes looking back at him, and a huge grin on a beautiful face. “Kathryn and I have been together for some time now, but…when this is more settled…we want to…talk with you.” 

“Just talk?” Julian, asked, not able to keep some of the jest from is voice, for it was his way of dealing with the tension and all the emotions he was feeling. 

“I think…talk…is the first thing ‘we’ all should do, than…as we say out here in the Delta, one day at a time,” Kathryn smiled, letting her fingers caress over Julian’s face, then down over her lover’s hand. “For now, let’s get a handle on this matter, and then as Chakotay said, we’ll…talk, okay?”

Julian grinned, “Okay,” for he felt happy and he also felt that things really were going to be okay for the first time in a long time. He shifted gently out of Chakotay’s arms, knowing he really couldn’t take up their time anymore, the ship needed them. “I’ll be okay now,” he assured them. “I’m sure you both have duties to attend to and I’m sure the EMH wants to grill me with more test,” he teased, showing he was feeling better. 

“Commander, I do believe we’ve been dismissed,” she said in mock disbelief. 

“Captain, I tend to have to agree, and by a lieutenant no less,” he grinned. Then he got serious as both he and Kathryn started to move out, “We’ll see you later, take it easy and don’t hesitate to contact us if you need anything…and I mean anything.” 

“I won’t hesitate,” Julian smiled and watched what felt in his heart his future walk out the door, and then he sighed and gave a soft shiver. “Okay, they’re gone…what do you want?” 

The air shifted and the alien woman was once more present, “to offer a solution,” she said flatly. 

“I may have been open to dying a moment ago, but I’m sure you realize that has passed, and I won’t let you harm me or anyone on board,” Julian said, a bit surprised by the strength of conviction his voice held or its confidence. 

“No, I do not think you would,” she said. “The only way my people will stay away though is if you ‘truly’ are in control, and from what we witness, though you have some control, you do not have full. I suggest you rectify this matter and soon, or my people will have no choice but to rid us of you and possibly Voyager as well if need be, though it would be more regrettable to lose such an ally you can not remain a threat,” she said, then once more shifted and was gone. 

Julian sat there quite for a moment, and then looked at his wrist, where he could see the thin silver bands that were a constant reminder of his situation, then his lip curled up…he had an idea…

***********

Kathryn and Chakotay sat eagerly and with much anticipation on the bridge, trying not to show their emotions, while awaiting the results. They saw Tom Paris fidget in his seat, and exchanged a look between the two of them, knowing how Tom felt all too well. 

The turbolift doors opened and all eyes shifted toward them to see Tuvok and Julian enter, a nod of satisfaction was given from Tuvok and a smile from Julian was all anyone was getting at the moment. 

“Well?” Tom inquired, not able to contain his concern. 

“It went very well, though I need to discuss a few things with the Captain and the Commander, I’m confident all is going to be just fine,” Julian said in reply to the burning question that all was thinking but only Tom voiced. 

On cue, Kathryn and Chakotay stood up and started for the ready room, only a nod to exchange command over to Tuvok and entered the room with Julian behind them. They both took a seat and sat with silent anticipation…for about two seconds. 

“Well?” Kathryn asked. 

Julian took a seat and gave a small laugh, “Well, I was right, there is an intelligence that has been altered, but it’s there none the less. It seems that to make the ‘substance’ they had to alter a changeling, but they were not able to destroy all it’s intellectual properties, so with Tuvok’s help I was able to establish a ‘link’ and can communicate with them more directly, though it’s still more on an emotional level than direct words. Also, I was able to tell, if we some how did become separated, they would die, for they were altered to need my DNA to survive, that’s why it sought me out when it did, so…that’s not an option. I can’t let them die.”

“So, you will be able to control it?” Chakotay inquired, knowing that this would get species 86472 off their backs, as Julian informed them of their threat. 

“We’re not asking you to consider that, Julian,” Kathryn said. 

Julian nodded his relief at Kathryn then looked at Chakotay, “To a much larger degree, yes, but it won’t let me come to harm, so that much is out of my hands, but I don’t think it will try to ‘take’ over anymore, but only time will tell. Though you were right, Chakotay, it was only acting on my impulse to protect Voyager, nothing more.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Chakotay smiled, reliefe in his eyes, especially seeing that the truth took some of the pain out of the dark eyes that he cared for. 

“Then I’ll inform KayLor and the others that all is under control,” she said very pleased that things would be able to settle down and they could move forward with life. 

“I still don’t know all that I can do,” Julian added, “But between Tuvok and the EMH, I’ll find out for sure, and knowing that I can communicate with them…” he snorted, “I’m going to either have to give them a name or a gender, for it doesn’t seem right nor does substance,” he chuckled. 

“No, I guess not,” Chakotay agreed. 

“Well, if that’s everything,” Kathryn started, wanting to get the word out to the others. 

“Um, not quite,” Julian said, a small blush crossing his face. “Ah, I know you guys were interested in discussing a…three way…relationship…” his face was getting even more flushed even with his golden skin. 

Kathryn and Chakotay found themselves holding their breath as they simply nodded, not sure what the young man was going to say. 

“Well, I guess, this sort of changes it to sort of a…four way?” he looked up a bit hesitant. “I mean, it does think and feel, even if on a more simple level, except when the bond between us is complete, and thus a living creature, not to mention it has a crush on Chakotay,” Julian smirked, seeing the disbelieving look he got from the Commander. “Well, it does. Didn’t you wonder why it retracted under your touch and no one else?” 

“Well, yeah,” Chakotay said, stunned. 

Julian laughed, “Because it told me it tingled under your touch and knew I was safe when I was with you. It said it never tingled before, though by instinct when safe it’s ‘programmed’ to retract.” 

“Oh,” was all Chakotay could say. 

“Well, I guess we really will have a lot to ‘talk’ about it at dinner tonight, if you’re up to it?” Kathryn asked, looking not only at Julian, but Chakotay. 

Chakotay tried to say yes, but all he could do was smile and nod, still stunned to hear that the ‘substance’ still needing a name, had a crush on him, and that if they took up a relationship with Julian, this…being would be along for the ride. 

Julian suddenly felt shy, “I’d like that,” he replied, and felt a tiny tingle in his right wrist, a signal from the being that they were aware and most definitely wanted to go. //I should have been quite about you,// he mused to himself, seeing how stunned Chakotay was. Then he thought differently, he wouldn’t lie to Kathryn and Chakotay, for if they were willing to open their lives and their heart to him, they had the right to know all they were getting in the process. “It seems ‘they’ would like that too,” Julian laughed lightly, gesturing with his wrist at the substance. 

“Se’mora” Chakotay suddenly said. 

Both Julian and Kathryn looked at him puzzled. 

“It means silver in my language, and for some reason it seemed fitting,” Chakotay replied, feeling a bit subconscious all of a sudden. 

Julian felt the tingle again and smile, “Well, Se’mora likes it, so Se’mora it is, and again, we would like dinner tonight,” he said as he stood up, feeling confident again and moved and kissed Kathryn softly on the lips, then Chakotay, leaving them both breathless, “Till tonight,” he replied and then exited. 

“I sure hope you know what you’re getting us into,” Chakotay huffed, trying to bring his libido under control in anticipation of tonight. 

“Me? You’re the one who started this,” Kathryn teased. 

“Me?”

“Yeah you. You had to go and blab about being bisexual and started lusting openly at the second sexiest man on the ship, how could I resist?” 

“Bull shit,” Chakotay laughed. “I may have fallen from the get go, but I was far from alone on the ride down, and it wasn’t me that practically ordered me to see how open Julian would be to the idea.” Then he got a bit serious, “So, do you think it’ll work?” 

Kathryn grinned, “Call it women’s intuition, but I think Julian is exactly what we both need to make this work. As for knowing what I’m doing? Don’t have a clue, how about you?” 

“Clueless,” Chakotay smirked with glee, feeling much like Kathryn, that Julian was what was missing in their relationship, the key to their much needed balance. “One would think we’re rushing things, though,” Chakotay said, stretching out, placing his hands behind his head, propping his feet up. 

Kathryn followed suite, “True, but we make command decisions all the time, we hone our instincts to allow us to do so, and we go with them. That’s the same here, we both felt it when he arrived, and the choice became more clear with time, so we made a decision to go for it…that’s all,” she said seriously, then her lips curled, “and that’s the story I’m sticking to no matter what.” 

Chakotay laughed, “Well, I’ll back you, for I’ve already ordered the large bed for your quarters, and the His, His, and Her towels.” 

Janeway kicked Chakotay’s feet off the table, “You didn’t.” 

Chakotay stood up and moved toward the door and grinned, “I did,” and exited. 

“Heaven help me,” she said grinning like a fool, then got up to tend to duty, and get things settled, as settled as the Delta could get, feeling that it was going to be a good day among may good days to come. “Maybe it should be His, His, Her, and It?” she mumbled, then shook her head and exited her ready room. 

< The end>


End file.
